Page 68 of Lady of Providence
“It has.”
“Mr. Lang, I could, perhaps, forgive your initial deception, as my grandfather did. You have been a supporter of the bank for years, and I am aware that people become desperate when they fall into situations such as yours. If the theft of bank funds had ended there, I would have overlooked your betrayal. However, upon further review, your theft continued past the time in which my grandfather first spoke with you. You have continued to harm this bank, using money belonging to our clients in order to fund your betting at the horse track, which is unacceptable for a partner. You are dismissed as well.”
As she spoke, the man had begun to rise, and now he was standing, shaking his finger over her as he looked down upon her.
“You are a nasty woman! Your grandfather—”
“My grandfather forgave you the first time, due to your long friendship and standing at the bank. However, when I looked into the history of what had occurred and reviewed the current books, I realized that the pattern had continued. Thank you for your service, Mr. Lang. She turned to Mr. Brant. “Please note that Mr. Brant will be replaced by Mr. Larkin, as previously discussed.”
She paused for a moment.
“That concludes our business regarding partners.” She caught Gabriel’s eye for just a moment, and he looked dumbfounded. She smiled. Good. It was hard to stun a man like Gabriel.
“And now, to discuss the recent accusations made against my character.”
CHAPTER32
Gabriel could only stare at Elizabeth. He had been awaiting her dismissal of him. In fact, he had already been contemplating what he would do following this shortened meeting. For once, Gabriel did not have a plan. No scheme in order to keep his role, nor to win back Elizabeth. For the first time in his life, he was simply going to accept his fate. Elizabeth could have what she wanted. A life without him as a partner, in any sense of the word.
Then she had completely surprised him by not saying a thing about him. Why? What had changed? He wondered what she was going to say to him when he walked into the room, had they not been interrupted by the arrival of the other partners. Had she changed her mind? But no… for clearly she would have told him before now, would she not have?
He awaited her words regarding her reputation. Gabriel felt as though he should stand up there with her, shoulder to shoulder, for it was his actions as much as her own that had been called into question. Yet he sensed that she needed to do this alone, to prove to herself if no one else that she could stand there, as a woman, to defend herself and show how strong she truly was. When she denied it, he would support her. While she may have turned him away, it wasn’t fair that she be the only one to have to respond to such accusations.
“The rumor that you have all heard is true.”
Gabriel’s jaw dropped along with the rest of the partners as she said the words. He could hardly believe it. Why had she not denied it? Once he backed her — as she had to have known he would — she could then have moved on, putting all of this behind her. Why was she risking everything with the truth?
The partners around him began to mutter to themselves, shaking their heads as they looked at her with some chagrin, judging her, questioning her.
“Lady Elizabeth,” began Mr. Cartwright, a man who Gabriel knew was quite friendly toward her, but surprised nonetheless. Elizabeth held up a finger, as though to signal she had more to say.
“As many of you know,” she continued, her voice strong, though her right pinkie was tapping nervously on the table before her, “The Duke and I were engaged to be married some time ago. Unfortunately, the marriage did not transpire, but we remained close. However, I firmly believe that anything that has occurred between us in a personal sense is, just that, personal, and should have no reflection upon the bank or the business we do. In fact, I will provide no further details as to what transpired. As you are partners in the bank, I have chosen to share this with you, but to anyone else, I will not justify their questions with an answer. They can think what they decide is true in their eyes.”
“But Lady Elizabeth…” said Sir Gray, the young baronet. “How could you…”
“How could I… enter into any type of relationship with a man to whom I was not married? Let me ask you this, Sir Gray,” she said, holding her head high. “If I were a man, would you judge me as you are now? Would you be questioning my competence, my leadership?”
“I…” The man clearly had nothing to say in answer than that. Of course, he wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but he could hardly admit to that now, could he?
“No, you would not,” she finished for him. “In fact, you would probably hardly even give it a passing thought. Therefore, I would ask you—” She looked up and passed her gaze around the table. “All of you — to not concern yourself with this matter any longer. I have been honest with you because I feel that is one of the values held of this bank, one that we should all aspire to uphold. I would also ask that you not share anything I have said here with others outside of this room. Yes, I am asking for my own sake, but also for that of the bank. I should not want additional question to come upon it, and I hope you can understand that.”
The partners were now silent. Gabriel smiled. Elizabeth had proven herself once more to be a woman of great worth, outsmarting all of the men who now sat in front of her. As he looked up at her, tall and proud, her head held high despite all that had been put to her, he couldn’t help but be proud of her. And stunned by her. And— by God, he was in love with her. Truly in love with her. She had run quite the game around him — more than he had ever done to anyone else — and yet, he couldn’t help the way he felt. He would love her for the rest of his life, even if they were to never see one another again. No other woman matched her.My Lady of Providence,he thought, amazedly.
And he realized now what his previous proposal had lacked. He had said nothing of how he felt about her. Sure, he had told her that she was intelligent, beautiful, that he wanted her. But what did any of that mean if she didn’t understand that he would love her for the rest of their lives, whether she wanted him to or not? She may not want to hear it anymore — but he would tell her anyway, once this all was finished.
“And you, Your Grace?” Sir Gray turned his gaze upon him, and, startled by the question, Gabriel found himself now holding the attention of the room, the expressions on the partners’ faces nearly surprised, as though they had forgotten that he was just as much as part of this as was Elizabeth. “What do you have to say about this?”
Gabriel looked back toward Elizabeth. “Lady Elizabeth, our senior partner, has said it all,” he said. “What more is there to say? Clearly, someone,” he looked over to where Clarke had been sitting, “has been attempting to sully Lady Elizabeth’s name. As a partner, not as a named party, I would like to suggest that the information you have all learned within this roomremainswithin this room, to protect our partners as well as the bank itself. We must have a united front, for we are much stronger together.”
He looked at Elizabeth as he said the words, hoping that she understood their meaning for her.
“Are we all agreed?”
The other partners studied him, many with question and certainly hesitancy, but slowly they nodded their heads and agreed.
“Very good,” he said. “If I hear that this story has emerged, I will know where it came from.”
Some of the others looked uncomfortable, but no one spoke out.
